Kingship and Religion in the First Millennium AD

Overview

The early medieval period represents a key period of transformation in European society, one in which new belief systems, strategies of rulership, social and economic structures laid the foundations for emerging national identities, state-level polities and the commercialisation that characterised late and post medieval society. This module examines key and emerging themes in the archaeology of early medieval Europe. Focusing on Ireland, Britain and Scandinavia in particular, it examines how societies both within and beyond the late Roman Empire transformed in the 4th to 11th centuries. The module debates aspects of migration and ethnicity, cosmology, the rise of new belief systems, the development of kingship, emergence of kingdoms, warfare and violence, economic and governmental structures, the Viking Age, emergence of aristocracy and urbanism, all of which cover key debates and trends in current research. Specific topics examined will include:

The North European ‘Iron Age’
Regionality and the Fall of Rome
Migration and Ethnicity
Art and Material Culture
Archaeologies of Belief
Cult and Kingship
Death, Belief and Commemoration
Conversion and Christianisation
Christian Spaces and Royal Places
Settlement and Landscape
Trade and Exchange
Kingdoms and Governance
The Origins of the Viking Age
Urbanism and Trade Systems
Ethnicity and Rural Landscapes
Religion and Society

Learning Objectives

1. an knowledge of the sources used by early medieval archaeologists in Europe
2. an understanding of the methods used by early medievalists for analysing data from a range of sources.
3. an understanding of key themes relating to early medieval Europe

Skills

1. the ability to identify and use effectively specialist publications including fieldwork reports, surveys, and excavation reports.
2. the ability to collect, collate and analyse data from a range of different sources relating to themes in the early medieval archaeology of Europe using relevant techniques.

Assessment

Essays